banking(working title)
by LadyOthala
Summary: Sam and Jack established. A/U. Sam is about to fly to DC to be with Jack but gets delayed at the bank.
1. Chapter 1

chapter one

Sam entered the tiny bank. It was Saturday and her flight was in 6 hours. She hadn't seen her husband in 3 weeks and she missed him. This had been their norm for the last couple of years, either he would fly to Colorado Springs to visit her or she would visit him at his home in DC they'd stay for a few days then head back to their respective cities. It was hard but they were making it work. Now finally, she was making the move to DC.

She got in line behind a couple of teenagers, and thought about her busy morning. Most of her errands were done. Her bags where in the trunk of her car and her furniture had been sold. The few items from her home she was taking with her had been boxed and would be kept in storage till they found a place that would work for both of them. Jacks house was okay when she went for short visits but they needed something they could grow into together. She had made one impromptu stop before going to the bank. Slipping her hand into her purse, she felt the brown paper package crinkle beneath her fingers (Almost didn't believe she'd got it and felt the need to touch it, just to make sure it was still there).

The line was moving at a snail's pace and she wondered what the problem was. Sticking her head out to the side she started counting bodies as she scanned ahead. Nine people to go before it would be her turn. She looked ahead to the tellers. Only one window was open. So this was going to be a long wait. _You'd think they'd have another one open on a Saturday_ she huffed slightly annoyed but she remained calm as the next person in line stepped up to the teller. She heard the soft swish of the doors open and close and glanced over her shoulder as a man stepped up and stood in line behind her. The teenagers ahead of her were getting louder as they talked about their Friday night escapades. She suddenly felt old. When she was a teenager she hadn't done half the stuff these girls were talking about.

Off to the side there were some chairs currently occupied by an elderly gentleman, who was reading a newspaper .He had a greying beard and needed to squint his eyes while he read even though he wore thick glasses. The other occupant was a young blonde woman in her early twenties, who reminded her of Cassie except she was sporting a very prominent baby bump. Her hands were folded under her belly as she leaned back on the soft cushions. The woman was mouthing something to someone in the line ahead of her. Sam looked and saw a broad shouldered young man. She guessed him to be in his early twenties, brown hair; brown eyes twinkled as he laughed at whatever joke the young lady had shared with him. Up ahead, the next person stepped up to the teller and everyone shuffled forward. Next in line was a woman who was trying desperately to keep her little boy in check, as he tried to get away from her.

Sams mind wandered back to the morning wakeup call she'd gotten from Jack...

"Good morning sleepyhead" he'd said, when she picked up her phone after having spent a few moments searching for it and finally locating it between her pillows.

"Morning" she said biting back a yawn, then felt the bile rise in her throat and barely made it to the bathroom where she proceeded to lose the portion of mushroom soup she had chocked down the night before _. This was getting ridiculous_. She eventually made it back to her phone and discovered 6 missed calls, all from Jack. She pressed the call button and it barely had a chance to ring before he answered.

"You ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine"

"You don't sound fine"

"I've just been pushing myself to finish the simulations I had running in the lab before my official transfer came through"

"Translation… you've been burning the midnight oil and you haven't been eating or sleeping. I'm surprised you even made it home last night"

"General Landry ordered me off the base" she said dryly.

"Good man."

"I can't wait to see you, Jack"

"Me too, in fact I have a surprise for you when you get here"

"Oh? Really? What is it?"

"You'll just have to wait and see" he answered cryptically.

"Jack" she said in a sing song voice.

"Carter" he teased.

"Sir?"

"Gotta go" Jack chuckled at their playful banter, "love you"

"Yeah, sure you betcha" she used his catchphrase.

The line was moving and pretty soon the woman and her kid left the bank. As she watched them leave she noticed the man behind her brush his hand through the top of the little boys head.

"Cute kid" he said to the mother. He noticed Sam at that moment and said "they just wanna play at that age" she offered him a watery smile then turned as the line moved again.

"So, you got any kids"

"Uhm... no" she answered in that awkward polite way when a stranger becomes chatty, thinking about the little brown paper package nestled in her handbag. Distracted for a moment she didn't notice the masked men enter the bank.

When the security guard went down and his blood started spilling onto the floor, time seemed to slow down and speed up all at once. Screams of fear and a low whimpering echoed through the bank.

"Everyone down on the floor." Came the icy voice of the armed robber towering over the dying man. His three masked companions armed to the teeth. "No one else needs to die today" he said casually as he stepped over the man.

Sam lay down on the cold floor, trying not to call attention to herself. She could hear one guy at the door calling out to his comrades as the other masked men approached the teller handing over black bags to be filled with cash.

"I'm so glad you've all decided to be so co-operative" said the robber who Sam guessed to be in charge. "It always helps when an example has been made" gesturing to the guard lying at the door. By now he must surely be dead Sam thought judging by the large pool of blood steadily spreading across the floor, his skin still and grey.

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	2. Chapter 2

A/U: thanks to all who took the time to review

Chapter 2

Sam couldn't see much from her position on the floor. She relied on her training to keep herself calm and tried to remember everything she could about these bank robbers. The 2 teenage girls were whimpering and clinging to each other.

"Where is the bank manager" said robber number one, his weapon trained on the nervous bank teller. His voice was strong and clear of all emotion. He held his weapon with a degree of confidence one can only achieve with regular use.

"Of- office" pointing in the general direction, choking back a strangled sob "please don't hurt me"

He ordered the woman to come out from behind the counter and place the bags of cash on the floor before shoving her down with the other hostages. She whimpered with fear as tears fell down her face. The greying older gentlemen who'd been reading his newspaper placed a gentle hand over hers and squeezed trying to comfort the poor women. Robber number 2 walked over to the bank manager's office and stormed in. He was big, at least 6 and a half feet. The muscle of the group?

Muffled sounds of protest came from the manager's office and moments later the stocky bank manager was hauled out and fell to the floor blood dripping from his nose.

"Ok Mr. manager, I need to get into the vault" said the man in charge. The boss. "And you are the guy who's gonna get me inside"

"I can't do that," the manager protested.

"Now you and I both know that's not true, if you don't want to end up like your friend over there" gesturing toward the dead security guard. "I suggest you rethink your position"

The bank manager's eyes widened as he took in the grizzly scene. It took a moment for the fear to register in his eyes, glancing at the rest of the hostages, the man realised he didn't really have any other choice than to give these guys what they wanted.

"I'll give you what you want just please, please don't hurt anyone else" he said. He lifted himself up from the floor with considerable effort. Moving over to the door next to his office, he keyed in his pass code and the door opened with a slight hiss.

"Now everybody just sit tight, this will be over with as soon as we get what we want." With that he disappeared through the door following the nervous bank manager, leaving his 3 companions to watch over the rest of the hostages.

Judging by the nondescript attire of these bank robbers; black jackets, pants gloves and ski masks and their level of comfort with their weapons, these were professionals and this was a well planned operation.

The sound of police sirens approaching could now be heard in the distance. Robber number three started becoming agitated.

"The cops are coming" he said. "We need more time" then he looked over at the bank teller "she must have pushed the alarm" he accused as he approached her menacingly.

The bank teller backed away in fear "please. I was only doing my job" she admitted.

"Too late" said robber number one as he peered through the front windows. At least three police vehicles pulled up in front of the bank, sirens blaring and lights flashing. He could see policemen jumping out, using their vehicles as cover.

"Get away from the windows" yelled robber number three. Robber number two just grunted in frustration.

" **We have the place surrounded, come out with your hands up** "

This situation was going from bad to worse.

By now the boss had made his way back with the bank manager in tow. He was carrying a medium sized box under his arm.

"What do we do?" asked robber number 3 in a panic."You said this was an easy job, in and out"

"Calm down" he said soothingly like he was speaking to a small petulant child. "Look at all these nice people" he spun around slowly, arms wide "you think they're gonna come in guns blazing?" he pointed at number 3 "you close those blinds and be careful" then he turned to the hostages.

"Now people… it seems… we have ourselves a predicament…" he said dramatically "and **we** are all gonna have to work together... not to get any of you killed." He glanced at robber number 2. "Cell phones, wallets, purses," number 2 pulled a black bag from his jacket pocket and approached the hostage … "if you've got any jewellery on you, hand it over."

The hostages slowly sat up and started getting their wallets and purses out, as robber number 2 got closer the teenagers who had by now started calming down, looked reluctant to hand over their cell phones. "It's not worth it" Sam whispered to the girls and they reluctantly agreed.

Robber number 2 came to stand in front of her, shoving the black bag in her face. She handed her purse and cell phone over, and then started pulling off her wedding band. It was just a ring but memories of the day Jack had placed it on her finger played through her mind as she put it in the bag. Her finger felt empty without the small token.

Number 2 moved off as he continued across the way to the old man and pregnant lady who were both trying to get up. The bank teller helped the old man, while the lady struggled by herself. The young man she was with moved to help her from across the way.

"Get down" robber number one barked at him.

"Please, let me help my wife" he begged. Robber number one looked thoughtful then nodded his head in agreement.

The young man gratefully rushed over to help his wife and after handing over their belongings he wrapped his arms around her. Sam wished Jack was here to comfort her. She always drew strength from his ability to remain calm in dangerous, often deadly situations. Not that she wanted him in this situation _. How confusing_ …she thought.

The chatty guy, who had been behind her in the line, placed his hand over hers and squeezed gently, as they shared a look, he was trying to comfort her. In a normal situation, having a stranger hold her hand would be weird, but everything about this situation was weird.

That's when the phones started ringing

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	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** thanks to everyone who's commented.

Chapter 3

The boss wasted no time in answering. Swiftly he grabbed at the phone and calmly spoke into the receiver "we have hostages, if you come in here I can't guarantee their safety and the last thing you want is a room full of dead people." He listened for a few minutes, "well for starters we want a helicopter" the boss went quiet again as he continued to listen. "Not my problem, don't call again until you get me the man who can give me what I want" he said coldly and put the phone down then turned to his men "that must have bought us some time"

"We should just give ourselves up" argued robber number three. He's the weak link in the group, Sam thought.

"Do you wanna go to jail" the boss asked calmly.

"No" he replied sullenly.

"Cos that's what's gonna happen, for the rest of your miserable pathetic life. We killed a guy and we've got a room full of witnesses. Now trust me, I'll get us out of this."

"You'd better" said robber number one coldly as he walked away.

Jack entered his office and shut the door behind him firmly, finally a moment of peace. He had been in meetings all morning. He scrubbed his hand over his face and through his hair trying to shake the fatigue _. Why did he have to come in on a Saturday? Oh yeah that's why._ He thought as he eyed the stack of folders on his desk. He grabbed the report for his next meeting and sat down. He needed to focus, but all he wanted to do was go home and wait for his wife to get there. He had a little surprise waiting for her and he couldn't wait to see her face. He was pulling out all the stops. Flexing his romantic muscles and cooking her a special dinner, he'd even bought fancy champagne, flowers and chocolate _. Yep_ he grinned, _she's gonna be so surprised._ He really just wanted to blow her socks off. Simple as that. Render her speechless for once, well, maybe just for a few minutes.

For Jack it wasn't just about having the women of his dreams, but keeping her his. It wasn't that he was insecure or anything but he saw the looks she got from the opposite sex, hell even the ladies looked. She barely noticed and after waiting so long to be together, and almost losing her to the cop, he wasn't about to let a moment go by without letting her know how much she meant to him . The phone on his desk rang. Jack sighed but dutifully reached over and pushed the talk button.

His assistant Dana's voice rang through the line "sir, I have a sheriff Woodward on the line from Colorado springs. He says it's urgent."

"Thanks Dana, you can patch him through," Jack sat down at his desk and lifted the receiver to his ear wondering idly why his old poker buddy was calling him. "Hey Andy, what's up? Everything alright with the kids?"

"Jack, it's not good" the serious tone of his friends voice immediately set his teeth on edge as he listened to the rest of what he had to say "we have a situation, and there's no easy way to say this." He heard the hesitation in his voice, it didn't sit well.

"Okay, I'm listening"

"We have a hostage situation at Chase bank in town and one of the hostages is Samantha Carter"

"Are you sure how do you know?"

"We've managed to get access to their security feed and I recognised her."

"How long?"

"3 hours, we've got a hostage negotiator here but it's been slow going" this was not the first time he had been informed of Sam being missing, injured or captured, either during or after the fact however, it was the first time it didn't have anything to do with the stargate.

"She's looking okay, Jack."

"She can handle herself" he said confidently.

"I thought you might want to know"

"Yeah thanks," Jack put the phone down. Then snatched it back up again as an idea occurred to him. "Dana, reschedule my next meeting, in fact clear the rest of the day."

….

Sherriff Andrew Woodward put his phone back in his pocket. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting from his friend but he was not your typical kinda guy. Back when he still lived in Colorado Springs they had a regular poker game every Thursday night. He worked under Cheyenne Mountain doing deep space telemetry.

 _Yeah right. With the amount of injuries the guy had over the years, not to mention sometimes going missing for months at a time, either he was just highly accident prone or it was a cover story. A pretty bad one._

He suspected Jack was black ops, though why they were based under the mountain he couldn't figure out,but he never asked and Jack never gave anything away. There was that one time he tried to set him up on a date but Jack flat out refused. It was only years later when he stopped by Jacks house unexpectedly, that he got introduced to his team and when you worked with a smart hot blond like that every day, every other women would pale in comparison _. Poor guy_ , mooning over a girl he couldn't have, and if they were doing it on the sly they were doing a real good job of hiding it.

The FBI had stepped in as soon as he requested the hostage negotiator. They had a nice setup. They had hacked into the banks security cameras and so far the robbers hadn't realised they were being watched. Sam however, she was one smart cookie and every now and then she would look up at the cameras. That's what made him recognise her. Watching her on screen now she was keeping it cool, every now and then she'd whisper something to the teenage girls on her right. The guy on her left seemed agitated but he was calm for the most part. They switched between cameras and watched as one of the robbers, the big burley guy disappeared into the manager's office.

Robber number one walked up and down between the hostages .They instinctively shied away from him as he passed by. People were getting anxious. For the most part the robbers ignored them, which gave them hope that they'd be left alone. The pregnant girl and the older man had been allowed to sit on the couches again.

"Well I can get you all something to eat and drink. You must be getting hungry and thirsty in there" said the FBI hostage negotiator, "but you gotta give us something in return, a show of good faith." He paused as he listened, and then continued, "One of the hostages." He listened again. ", look you gotta throw me a bone here, we want a peaceful resolution for everybody. You gotta show us you're willing to work with us, so I can convince my bosses to get you your helicopter, and letting one of the hostages go is the way to do that" another pause as the FBI agent listened. "You can have some time to think it over; I'll call back in 10 minutes." He put the phone down and updated the room.

"If he agrees, we can get audio inside the bank. Right now he doesn't know that we've got eyes on them"

On screen, they watched as he said something to his comrades. It was clear that he was the leader. The boss of this little gang and he wasn't discussing anything with them. He was making decisions autonomously and his teammates seemed to follow his orders without question. Everything depended on him and Sheriff Woodward hoped the guy would do the right thing.

"Sir, this is a restricted area. You're not allowed back here" came the voice of one of his officers just outside their command post.

"Brigadier General Jack O'Neill" the man said as he barged into the tiny room. "Now who's going to give me an update on this situation?"

"With all due respect sir, this is a civilian matter" the hostage negotiator piped up. "You have no jurisdiction here. I'll have to ask you to leave."

"I know this guy, I'll take it from here" said the sheriff unbelievingly as he escorted Jack out.

"Jack, how the hell did you get here so fast?" he said confused.

"You can't just call me up, tell me Sam's in danger and not expect me to come down here"

"But how…" he stuttered, still a little shocked and a whole lot confused.

"Never mind that, it's classified. Now tell me you have a plan to get my wife out of there"

His wife…

Oh, shit.

….

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